Women's group rallies in Wilmington for anniversary

Women Organizing for Wilmington (WOW) celebrates six months since international women's march

By Tim Buckland StarNews Staff

WILMINGTON -- Rain early Saturday let up just as the Women Organizing for Wilmington group prepared to start its rally commemorating the six-month anniversary of the international women's march.

"It was supposed to (still) be raining," WOW organizer Lynn Shoemaker said as the rally began at 10 a.m. at the steps of City Hall. "But Mother Nature is here with us today. She stopped the rain long enough to support us."

Despite the dreary conditions, the rally drew about 75 people, most applauding the recent votes that killed efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, as well as calling for further improvements to the country's existing health care models.

"It's a women's march and I hope health care is on the agenda," said Alana Schilling of the Frank Harr Foundation's Services and Advocacy for GLBTQ Elders (SAGE) group, which she said has about 240 members in Wilmington. "I show up to every single one of these protests."

The latest repeal effort was killed Friday when Republican U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, John McCain and Lisa Murkowski -- the mention of Collins and Murkowski at the rally drew loud applause -- crossed party lines to vote against the measure. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said afterward that is "time to move on" from health care.

"It's because you called. You wrote letters and you showed up. That's why we're celebrating a huge win to save the Affordable Care Act," she told the crowd.

Organizers said they would have liked to have seen more people attend, but Shoemaker used the crowd size to poke fun at the administration of President Donald Trump's famous inaccurate description of his inauguration crowd as the largest in history.

"By presidential standards, I would say it's the largest crowd ever in the history of Wilmington," Shoemaker said, drawing applause and laughter.

And the crowd had nearly as many men as women. Nelson Beaulieu, who unsuccessfully ran for New Hanover commissioner last year, said he believed it was important to continue to support the organization's mission.

"The issues we cared about six months ago are still on the agenda," he said. "Activism means being active."

Reporter Tim Buckland can be reached at 910-343-2217 or Tim.Buckland@StarNewsOnline.com.